Sunday, March 20, 2016

Gaining Salvation?

The
other day I was thinking about salvation, and how hard some people
make it. The thought came to me of how simple God made it for us to
receive salvation.

I
pictured myself on the day of judgement, standing before God.

God
“Do you believe in my Son Jesus?”

Me
“Yes.”

God
“Do you believe He died for your sins?”

Me
“ Yes!”

Luke
23:39-43

39Then
one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, “If
You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.”

40But
the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear
God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? 41And
we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but
this Man has done nothing wrong.” 42Then
he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your
kingdom.”

43And
Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with
Me in Paradise.”

Quite
simple when you think about it. Why do you think God made salvation
so simple? I believe it is because He knew that we wouldn't be able
to live our lives in complete obedience to the laws that He had sent
down.

How
many of you think you haven't gained salvation because of things you
have done wrong? I know that was a trick question, because we can't
gain salvation, it is a gift given to us. On another note, how many
think they have lost their salvation because of something they have
done? If it were up to us to gain, or lose salvation, we would all
have to start working on our cool down plans. But seriously, how many
of you feel lost because of mistakes you have made?

I
know one of the things I was worried about, because of the
denomination in which I was raised, was backsliding and failing after
I had been saved. I accepted Christ as my Savor in March of
ninety-one, but thought I had lost my salvation because of the things
I had done after I was saved, in fact that was one of the
reasons I had waited, as I thought you only get one chance and I
didn't want to mess it up. I know many people that think they have to
clean up their act before coming to God for forgiveness. It is like
waiting until you are healed to go to the doctor. That isn't how God
looks at it, He wants our brokenness. It is when we realize that we
can't do it on our own, that we can truly be open to accepting what
God has for us.

John
14:5-7

5Thomas
said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can
we know the way?”

6Jesus
said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through Me.

7“If
you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now
on you know Him and have seen Him.”

I
am not saying accepting Christ gives us a license to sin, far from
it, but we will fail, and we will mess up, and continue to make some
of the same mistakes. We will give in to the same temptations we had
before accepting Christ into our lives.

I
will explain it the way Brother Flora explained it to me in March of
ninety-one, paraphrased slightly for modern context. Accepting Christ
is like going to court with Perry Mason as your counsel, only instead
of just representing you, like Perry Mason, Christ not only pleads
your case, but takes your place on the stand, and accepts your
judgement and penalty.

When
God looks at us on the day of judgement, He doesn't see the us
that we see, He sees the us that confessed Christ as our
Savior. I am so glad that God isn't the god of just payment as our
society demands, as none of us would be saved, no not one, as we all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans
3:21-26

21But
now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being
witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22even
the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and
on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus, 25whom
God set forth as
a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His
righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the
sins that were previously committed, 26to
demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be
just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

It
is our faith in God's word, and what He has done for us that assures
us of our salvation.